Another Bethesda PS5 Exclusive Has Been Delayed

Bethesda's second (and likely final) timed PS5 console exclusive, "Ghostwire: Tokyo," has been delayed to early 2022. In a statement on Twitter, developer Tango Gameworks announced that, while it originally planned to release the game later in 2021, the launch had been pushed back to near the start of next year. This decision also delayed the game's release on Xbox Series X|S even further, as "Ghostwire" will only be available on PC and PlayStation for the first year as part of Sony's continued exclusives strategy.

Tango Gameworks cited "protecting the health of everyone at Tango" as a key motivator behind the shift. The company likely endured similar challenges encountered by many other delayed games in the last 12 months. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many problems for game production, with large developers forced to transition to less traditional work-from-home set-ups.

"Ghostwire: Tokyo" will launch in 2022 alongside some other delayed heavy hitters, including the likes of "God Of War: Ragnarok," "Hogwarts Legacy," and "Gotham Knights." The other Bethesda PS5 timed console exclusive, "Deathloop," has also seen its fair share of delays. Originally set to launch late in 2020, the title was bumped to May 21, 2021 before being delayed once more to September 14, 2021.

Though more time for polish will hopefully pay off, the "Ghostwire: Tokyo" delay may leave you wondering what Sony has to offer players for the remainder of the year.

With "Ghostwire Tokyo" bumped to 2022, the remaining 2021 PlayStation exclusives lineup looks sparse. According to Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst, the "Horizon Forbidden West" launch remains up in the air. Hulst confirmed in a June post on the PlayStation Blog that the game is targeting late 2021 but could slip into 2022.

At the time of this writing, the only AAA PlayStation console exclusive confirmed for later this year is "Deathloop." "Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut" comes out in August and "Death Stranding: Director's Cut" launches the following month, but those are closer to DLC than new games. While PlayStation doesn't necessarily need a ton of major exclusives, it may make the PS5 less attractive than Xbox's next-gen system. "Forza Horizon 5" hits Xbox in November and "Halo Infinite" is slated to arrive at around the same time, so PlayStation is at risk of having less exclusives than Xbox this holiday season.